Burch runway shows sunny '60s life on the Riviera

NEW YORK (AP) — Tory Burch's bright and early Tuesday time slot at New York Fashion Week was a perfect match for her always sunny look. She embraces the fun to be had in fashion, allowing the crowd to dream about the lifestyle Burch's muse must lead.

For next spring's collection, Burch was inspired by the French Riviera in the 1960s, where women would wear cute trapeze dresses to show off their legs and could turn a swim shirt and mini into an outfit worthy of a prime spot at a seaside cafe.

When the sun goes down, there were halter dresses to show off their tans on their shoulders, and other cocktail looks with jeweled collars and cuffs to add sparkle. Burch took the scarves these ladies surely would have had around their necks and turned them into a button-down shirt and a cotton sundress.

She paired a lattice cutout leather jacket with a lattice lace skirt. A block-print anorak — collar up — was worn with a matching-print dress.

"I love the easy elegance of the movie 'La Piscine' and Romy Schneider's character," she said in an interview.

Many of the prints she used were rooted in the garden — her own garden. The Queen's Anne lace print came from a digital print of the flowers she grew this summer. She's only a budding green thumb, though, so that was the only one.

Burch certainly has seen her brand grow. This show was held in the upper lobby of Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theater in front of a crowd of almost 800. She debuted on the catwalk at fashion week only two years ago in a much smaller venue.

Still, she has a DIY approach: Minutes before Tuesday's show, she had taken over a men's bathroom to use as a flower arranging station. Leather bucket bags of flowers were in the models' hands in no time.

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